This is one of those books that they are forever assigning to pimply-faced teens to read while in their early years of secondary school. Unfortunately, many of these books are just too deep, too adult, too mature (in the way they require age and experience to understand them) for kids to ken at all.

I was first assigned this book as summer reading when I was 14 years old. There’s just no way that a 14 year old is going to have the life experience and maturity to understand what lies in between the lines of Thornton’s outstanding book. And, of course, I didn’t at that time.

I skimmed and read the Clif’s Notes to pass the quiz and answer a few trivial questions during the one hour spent on this book once the school year started. It’s a shame that books like this are wasted on children. They should be required reading for adults once they reach the age of 30, though.

I’m glad I re-read this one. I enjoyed every word of it. It’s actually inspired me to give Thornton’s Our Town a try next. It’s on reserve at my local library.*

Do you remember the magic of summertime in your youth? Do you remember how bright the sun was or how blue the sky was back then?

I remember. Somewhere between the walks home from the baseball park through the cemetery and my first car/first girlfriend, I seemed to have misplaced that magic, though. I wish I could find it again; maybe when my second childhood starts and I revert all the way back to messing in my diapers (Depend®) again.

If you’ve forgotten the magic, then maybe you should pick up a copy of Robert R. McCammon‘s Boy’s Life. It will go a long way to reawakening that magic for you. If you were a child of the 50s or 60s as I was, you’ll be taken along for a ride by McCammon that won’t be too very unfamiliar to you at all.

Sure, the settings might be bit different (Alabama in the book) than those you remember, but they’ll be eerily familiar. McCammon did not lose the magic when he aged. If he did, he was definitely able to conjure it once again to write this story. Or maybe writers just never lose that magic. Who knows?

Boy’s Life is a story about a boy. How ’bout that, huh? His name is Cory. He’s 12 years old in the summer of 1964. A year removed from a tumultuous 1963 and a few years prior to latter historical events like Tet of ’68, Watergate, and the Summer of Love (’69). From Spring through to that year’s waning days, young Cory narrates his adventures growing up in the small town of Zephyr on the Tecumseh River in southern Alabama.

The events and the tragedies and the strangeness all whirl around one another weaving a story filled with that pure and simple magic of youth. You’ll meet characters who seem oddly familiar. You’ve met them in your own lives, in your own hometowns, in your own eras. They’re common to everyone, I think.

You’ll learn a bit of history while reading this book. It’s OK, though. It won’t hurt you none. If you didn’t know anything about the Civil War, the Wild West, dinosaurs, WWII, the Nazis, the Holocaust, etc., Cory’s telling of related events in his own childhood may lead you to the library to do a bit of research on these things. That’s a good thing.

I have a couple favorite “coming of age” type books: Stephen King’s ITand Dan Simmons’ Summer of Night. Both authors manage to bring back the magic long gone from my soul whilst reading these works. I think that’s why they both left lasting impressions on me. Anything that revives the magic is a good thing. There’s so little magic in adult life, sadly.

This would be a great book to curl up by the fire with one of these dark, cold winter nights. Oh, and you won’t have to be a boy to appreciate it. Little girls had a magic all their own. They’ll understand, too.

Roughly 30 years ago games took about half an hour less. Not all of that time is the extra commercials and promos. So in the Arizona League they’ll be limiting visits to the mound by catchers, managers and coaches to three per game, other than pitching changes. No more pitching on intentional walks. Hey, just take your base buddy. And hitters have to stay in the batter’s box. That’s key. They can’t step out to unfasten and then refasten their batting gloves on each hand after EVERY pitch.

Nope. I just don’t think I’m going to like this. They’re not just attempting to shorten games; they’re changing the game of baseball altogether. No intentional walks? Limited mound conferences? Nah… this ain’t gonna’ fly, I don’t think.

The MLB really stirred the nest up with its institution of the instant replay this season. I wasn’t for that, either. However, I must admit, it’s been used/handled very well so far. It may need a few more refinements, though, before its working optimally.

I’m a traditionalist. I’ve been a baseball fan for nearly 50 years. I just don’t like some of the things they’re considering these days. If you want to shorten games, get rid of the commercials. Yeah, I know… good luck with that. It’s always all about the $$$, ain’t it?

Well, we’ll just have to sit back and see how this all turns out. In the meantime, enjoy the World Series this coming week!

Like this:

I just finished watching the Tampa Bay Rays lose their last game of the 2014 season.

Rays 2014 season total: 77 wins – 85 losses

It’s been a bad one. Rays fans have seen worse, though. Back in the Devil Rays era, a losing season like this was a sadly common occurrence. No one expected it for this year and this group of Rays. As a matter of fact, I’m holding in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers* a Tampa Bay Times Sports section insert from 20 March of this year. In big bold font on the front it says, “Trophy Case – The Rays have done all they can to make their title argument.” It’s accompanied by a big mock World Series trophy with the Rays players on the little flags and “World Champions – 2014 – The Tampa Bay Rays” on the base plate.

Hmm… some really wishful thinking on the part of the Times sports writers, evidently. The Rays did NOT have what it takes to make it even to the playoffs this season. They do have some valid excuses, though. They lost their ace pitcher in a trade. They lost numerous key players to injury. Some key players did not perform at the levels expected of them. Et cetera. Excuses don’t win championships. Whatever went awry, whatever plans didn’t pan out, whatever players had issues of one type or another; I’m confident that, under the continued leadership of Joe Maddon, all will be analyzed and solutions will be discovered and implemented.

Maybe that pretty trophy will end up in the Rays’ trophy case in 2015.

We’ll see…

The cold and dark winter is nearly upon us now, but the spring will come… and with it a renewed, refreshed, and ready Rays organization. Can’t hardly wait to hear that “Play ball!”

Later…

~Eric

*This phrase about the formerly nicotine-stained fingers was a trademark phrase used by a favorite talk radio host of mine from many years ago toward the end of his career. His on-air name was Bob Lassiter. I pretty much stopped listening to talk radio after he retired. There will never be another like him.

A legendary icon of America’s once-favorite pastime, Donald William “Zim” Zimmer leaves us at age 83; elevated to whatever is beyond Major League.

Zim was loved and respected by all. He was as much baseball as anyone who was ever associated with the game. He’ll be missed by many.

Mostly, Donald William Zimmer was a delightful sort who defied comparison and became too renowned in later life to remain what he had been as a player, an everyman. He produced a long, memorable resume in the game he loved, though he was neither an accomplished player nor a manager of great success. He was merely Zim.*

Zim is probably getting ready for his next game somewhere right now. The smell of the fresh cut grass is in the air. He can hear the vendors yelling about their peanuts and red hots. It’s a bright sunny summer day on a diamond somewhere and Don is there with a big smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

Serious jam, huh? I might wrap up tomorrow with some Slayer and SlipKnot. How’s that sound, metal heads?

Let me close this with Zakk Wylde‘s tribute to his friend Dime Bag Darrell.

Oh, and just so you know… all my listening this weekend took place on my favorite online music site, GrooveShark. You can check out my personal Favorites and Playlists by clicking on my Profile page there.

And one last thing…

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Go out and hug a vet. You owe your ass to them for that freedom you enjoy so much every moment of your life here in the U.S.

I’ve been maintaining my health and sanity over the last 3+ years by riding my bicycle every day. Back in November, my trick knee decided to blow out for no apparent reason other than the world wanted to poop on me because I’m down. I couldn’t walk for exercise or ride my bike. So, what happens to a fat ass who doesn’t get much exercise? His ass gets fatter, which is exactly what happened to me.

I have a friend who recently went through a health emergency very similar to one I experienced myself back in 2010. I wrote about my experience here, if you care to read about it. Anyway, in the process of nagging (advising) my pal who is dealing with nearly the same afflictions at the moment, I pepped myself up to get back in shape and quit screwing off.

With this in mind, I decided to renew my daily bike riding regimen. My knee hasn’t been giving me hell too much lately. I think it’s gone dormant again. Unfortunately, I had been having some repeat issues with a front tire on my bike that keeps going flat. I changed out the inner tube twice and still developed the same issue (flat tire) within a few days. It was causing me to lose faith in the bike, which had me avoiding longer rides.

I needed to get this fixed. I normally like to ride 10-15 miles a day. I can’t do that with a bike I can’t trust. So, this past Saturday, I went to an old-time bike shop that’s been owned and operated by the same fellow for 40 years or so here in Tampa. It’s Joe Haskins’ Bike Shop on N. Florida Avenue. It’s not far from my house. When we were kids, we’d ride our bikes to Joe’s for parts and other goodies.

My bike is a Specialized Crossroads Sport. It looks like this one here…

The tires for this thing from the local dealer cost $65 each. That’s just the tire… no tube, no rim band, etc. At Joe’s I was able to get two brand new Giant (Kenda Kwest) 700x38c tires, two inner tubes, and two rim bands for $46 bucks and change (tax included). I brought my goodies home Saturday morning and installed them right away. I changed clothes and took my new tires for a nice little spin of about 8 miles or so. Wonderful! Sunday morning I went for an even longer ride of about 12 miles or so. All was fine and dandy.

Then today happened. I woke up itchin’ to take the bike out again for an even longer ride today. I managed to finally get on the road about 1:30PM. It was overcast and hot, but nice… as long as you’re moving. I rode for nearly 15 miles today. It was a really nice ride. I did notice something, though. My chain was skipping every once in a while when I would accelerate. It’s been doing this more and more lately. I know it’s wear/tear on the chain and sprockets. I just haven’t had the money to replace them.

The way my luck is with my automobiles, motorcycles, and bikes is that they nearly always break down at home or very near to home, at least. I’m very lucky that way. My friends hate me for this. ;) Well, as I crossed over the last street before the one I live on, accelerating to get across the intersection, the rear dérailleur assembly just blew apart and got jammed in the rim, tearing off two or three spokes and stopping me pretty efficiently; better than brakes, actually.

The dérailleur above is the way it’s supposed to look. Mine now looks like some mutant metal pretzel. The cause of all this is just wear. The derailleur gears were worn down to sharp points, as were the cassette (rear sprocket set), and the crank (pedal sprocket set). I’ve tallied up all the parts I’m going to need to rebuild this bike and it looks like I’m going to need about $150 or so. I don’t have the means to purchase these parts at this time, so I guess I’m going to have to start my walking regimen instead of biking. Hope my knee cooperates.

I do have a really nice set of tires and tubes now, though. They only have about 35 miles on ’em.